They call it yet another “slap‑gate,” but it is anything but trivial. The behaviour of a sitting MLA in Mumbai, early this month, brazenly assaulting and threatening a canteen employee at the MLA hostel over allegedly stale food, is more than just personal misconduct caught on camera. It is yet another symptom of a deeper malaise within our political system—a disease that has festered across parties, ideologies, and decades of governance.

For years, no matter who occupies the seat of power, leaders across the spectrum have slipped into the self‑appointed role of street dons. They carry an invisible license to bully, to settle personal scores, and to police society as though they stand above the very Constitution they swore to uphold. Who gives the right to politically connected individuals to harass others? Who allows them to settle neighbourhood disputes for a fee or threaten violence when someone dares to disagree?

Our Constitution grants every citizen the right to seek work and dignity anywhere within the Republic of India. Yet every week, somewhere, a politician or party spokesperson questions the legitimacy of citizens who move in search of livelihood or education.

They forget that allegiance is owed to the Republic of India—not to any local party, ideology, or private fiefdom. And it is the very purpose of politics to protect livelihoods, not hide behind narrow slogans that mask failures of governance. We boast about urbanisation as proof of our demographic dividend, yet treat migrants as intruders when it suits us.

Why do politicians feel entitled to stop fellow Indians from moving freely within their own country in search of work? It is a fundamental constitutional right, not a privilege to be rationed out by local strongmen.

After all, who will police those very politicians when they forget that the state, the sovereign itself, carries the duty to create and protect livelihoods? The republic does not exist to serve narrow party interests. It exists to ensure that no........

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